A year ago, I put on a helmet as a professional football player for the first time. This year, I'm putting on a different kind of uniform: I graduated law school, sat for the bar exam, and I'm officially starting my career as an attorney.

People keep asking if I'm going to give up football now that "real life" is starting. My answer is always the same: absolutely not.

That first season was the time of my life. Every practice, every rep, every moment in that uniform felt like proof that the dream I'd carried since I was a kid was real. I even remember the first time I got tackled. Instead of dreading it, I felt this rush of exhilaration. I remember being so excited that this was really happening, I was playing football. It sounds strange to say getting hit on a football field was one of the best moments of my life, but it was. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I'm returning for my second season with the Jersey Shore Wave, and honestly, this year feels harder in some ways than making the team the first time. Starting a legal career means new hours, new responsibilities, and a whole new budget. Women's professional football is still self-funded. Players cover their own gear and team dues, no matter what else is going on in their lives.

I could have used "I'm too busy now" as my excuse to walk away. Instead, I'm choosing to prove that you don't have to pick one dream over another. You can be a lawyer and an athlete. You can grow up and still make room for the thing that made you who you are.

For anyone new here, I have albinism and a visual impairment, and for most of my life, football felt like something that wasn't built for someone like me. Making this team last year was proof that it was possible. Coming back this year, on my own terms, as a working professional balancing a demanding new career is proof it wasn't a fluke. With the support of my coaches and teammates, I was able to improve so much this last season, and I cannot wait to use all I learned to return better than ever.

Every contribution helps me stay on the field while I build this next chapter. You're not just funding a season. You're helping show that dreams don't have expiration dates, and neither does the fight to chase them. You are helping prove that people who look like me have a place in professional athletics, and especially professional women's tackle football.

Thank you for being part of year two.